Christmas week is the best time of the year to visit the Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven, which annually presents an exhibit of creches of historical or artistic interest. This year, the emphasis is on Central Europe, with Nativity scenes distinctive of the cultures of Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and the Slovak Republic.

Poland's contribution to the creche canon is the szopka, ornate, metallic-multicolored castle-like structures inspired buy Gothic cathedrals, which evolved in connection with puppet theater in the 17th and 18th centuries. Some of them are massive, up to 6 feet tall, and the exhibit features both small- and large-scale examples. In one display, Poland-born Pope John Paul II, kneels in front of a szopka. An innovative spiral szopka shows the Three Kings on the bottom tier, the Holy Family on the second and angels flying above.

In the Czech and Slovak republics, creches traditionally are made from paper or corn husks. One of the examples won the 1994 International Creche Festival and is featured on a Czech stamp. Another distinctive Czech Christmas decoration is "The Holy Infant of Prague," which depicts Jesus as an elaborately dressed child, without his parents. Yet another Czech creation is a tiny creche inside a nutshell. Another Bohemian nativity sits in a shadow-box with a show-stopping frame.

Thomas Serafin

Czech creche inside a nutshell, part of the exhibit "Joy to the World."

Czech creche inside a nutshell, part of the exhibit "Joy to the World." (Thomas Serafin)

German creches include tin creations and pyramids with candleholders attached. The heat from the candles rise and spin a propeller on top. Another German artwork shows the Holy Child sleeping in a glass enclosure, looking like Snow White in her glass coffin. A stunning creche, presented to the Knights of Columbus by John Paul II, is made of mother of pearl and tells both the Nativity story and the Last Supper.

A charming Hungarian Holy Family looks like a chubby villager and hausfrau, with the Baby Jesus resembling a loaf of bread. An Austrian creche is designed to resemble the Chapel of Oberndorf, the church where the song "Silent Night" was first sung. A Slovenian tablecloth shows the procession of the Magi.

The loveliest creation in the show is by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt: a polychrome ceramic-with-gold foil piece of a beautiful, red-haired Mary taking a nap with her baby, a three glamorous angels watch over them.

"JOY TO THE WORLD: CRECHES OF CENTRAL EUROPE" will be at the Knights of Columbus Museum, 1 State St. in New Haven, through Jan. 31. Admission and parking are free. kofcmuseum.org.